"The Chilies", Steel bar and plate, 98x97cm, 2006 (First three images), no not a Red Hot Chilly Peppers cover band but what started off as a simple purchase at the local Asian food importers and put through the filter of my brain. I was attracted to this image because as you'll see in a lot of my work I like to work with compositions that a certain amount of repetition as well as chaos, I think the technical word for it is entropy, or structured chaos.
I was first attracted to these images from the then experimental architect Daniel Liebeskind who did a series of drawings called "Macromegas" that were published in a poncey art journal I once saw. Although there is not a lot of repetition in these works I was very interested in their dynamism and volatility.
This amount of visual information, detail and a splash of chaos is sometimes what I look for in subjects that I like to portray, the difference is that I normally like to find the information in nature whether it be or man made environments as you see in the favela series that I do or in the Fingerprint series etc....
The Chillies in their new home in Amsterdam
Above you have a detail of one of Liebeskind's "Macromegas" this one titled " Vertical Horizons", I changed the orientation for presentation's sake. Below you have a drawing I did of a favela from a detail of a photo I tracked down on the Internet. and the following the original material.
Well when I see images of favelas, shantie towns, townships and or certain urban environments, I start to get a bit excited. The magnitude of some of them, whether creeping up mountainsides or stretched out in valleys, i find truly amazing. Not only from just the sheer quantity visual information available but obviously what it represents as well. Humankind as an organism, in this case with very little resources, sprawling out to accomadate itself in any way possible and using every material at hand to create some sort of lodging or shelter for themselves. So far I have or have had created three different versions of the favela drawing I've made .
In the studio, Favela III, Mixed Media, 100x80, 2006
The first one started but not the first one finished, is Favela no.3, Mixed Media on MDF support, 126.5x76.5cm, 2006. is made completely out of recycled material in a collage/relief form. I think the manner that it's created is appropriate to the subject matter and I'm quite happy with the result. Below you have three details of the same work...
Favela III, Mixed Media, 100x80, 2006 (Details)
Favela II, Engraved Stainless Steel, 100x80, 2006
The first and second were realized in Shanghai, China with the help of Thomas Charveriat of Island Six Arts Center and exhibited in the show "Invisible Layers, Electric Cities" Curated by Margherita Salmosa and Allard van Hoorn. The one in the picture with one of my loyal chinese followers in front of it is creatively titled "Favelas II" is an engraved plate of stainless steel which is then hand painted by highly skilled chinese craftsmen. Island Six is a very interesting new initiative which I'll cover more of later
Sheila no.2 (Kneeling), Steel, 100cm x 126cm, 2005
While working on “WH(Y)” I came into contact with Sheila. Sheila is an inflatable sex doll. In case your curious she came with the name and her chosen line of work is law enforcement, she packs a gun. I bought Sheila because I couldn’t really do a piece on the male state without involving sex but I didn’t want to incorporate graphically intimate images. Sheila was the solution, she represents the act of sex as one of desperation. Flesh and blood substituted by plastic and air, reality by fantasy. In “WH(Y)” she figures no fewer than six times and she is a patient and flexible model. In the process of having her around the studio the reactions, male and female, that people had to her were quite curious and strong. People reacted with intrigue and curiosity to what could be considered a symbol of our darker, more instinctual and desperate side. Hence Sheila no.1 (reclining) 192cm x 42cm and Sheila no.2 (Kneeling), 100cm x 126cm. Pieces that at once are provocative in the male objectification and idealization of the female form and miserably sad as measures of the levels of deprivation that human desire can bring.
Sheila no.1 (reclining), Steel, 192cm x 42cm, 2005
“WH(Y)” is a sardonic reflection on the male condition, the name is taken from the chromosome that determines male sexuality shortly after conception. The piece’s focus is on certain male tendencies such as violence, imperialism, our love of motor vehicles, vagrancy, evangelism, sex with inflatable inanimate objects, voyeurism, etc…. it’s a humorous take on some of our less attractive habits. The composition consists of about forty small figures, average size 40cm, that are mostly portraits of people that have visited the studio recently and graciously posed in any number of compromising positions. The remainder of the shots I took outside of the studio. The figures are made out of welded steel bar and plate steel cut accordingly and the whole piece measures 218cm x 125cm. I improvised a lot with the composition and feel I came up with a fairly dynamic solution. I’m very content with the orientation towards detail and look forward to investigating it more in the future.
Peter Brueghel, The Triumph of Death, 1562
I would be remiss in not citing at least two influences that I had in working with this type of composition. Besides having a natural predilection for the busy and dynamic, I do find alot of inspiration in the works of Peter Brueghel and Hieronymous Bosch. Both of their attention to detail and imagination I find staggering. Bosch was as and continues to be as provacative as Dali but four hundred years earlier.
Hieronymous Bosch, Death and the Miser, c.1490
Both of these fellas were out there, just drumming out the most macabre stuff from the deepest recesses of their imaginations. I find it absolutely awe-inspiring.
My Good Friend Ari was an exuberant model, here he is in action with Sheila.
And here is the reproduction in steel that forms a part of the piece.
The Lab MG10 is where it all happens, or the vast majority of it anyway there are mini-labs for other specific purposes on a couple sites in other parts of the city. The Lab MG10 though is found on an ordinary street near an ordinary placa, and is and has been home to many social, political and cultural deviants, misfits and creators for the past seven years. The Lab MG10 is on the map in good ways and bad. The good are that it has been shelter and haven for my many artistic projects as well as place of encounter for many people that pass through Barcelona. A place where locals and foreigners alike come to enjoy an open coziness and perhaps lift a glass of wine. The majority of the contents on the web pages www.frankplant.com and www.m5project.com that I have been involved with were created at least in part here. Two floors and a huuuuuge terrace serve as ample space for all my endeavors. The bad part is we are also on the map of the local government and they are aching to build a new road through the Lab MG10. We hope that they spend their money elsewhere for a good many years to come and that the community here can continue to flourish. First Photo is the street entrance
The Studio, Taller... whatever you wanna call it.
The studio, Taller whatever you wanna call it converted into it's freakish alter ego... My restaurant.
Ok part blog entry and part rant, we'll start with the blog entry part. I have a new somewhat comprehensive catalogue that gives a good idea of the work that I've been doing since around 1998. It is creatively titled, Frank Plant, Selected Works 1998-2005, and goes through all of the what more or less could be called creative periods or spells that I've passed through since then. First basic drawings in steel, more complex ones, Interactivity etc.... I have to say I feel like a new father except that this child had a gestation period of 12 months instead of nine. Start rant. Now publicity is a tricky subject for the modern artist, we love it and can't get enough of it for obvious reasons. Without publicity, and this comes in many forms whether it be openings, newspaper/magazine articles, catalogues, interviews, word of mouth and or web site/blog type thingys, we are relegated to a very small public which usually includes a couple friends, a neighbor or two, spouse/ boyfriend/ girlfriend type person and a blind aunt that has always been supportive. This unfortunately, if you ever want to give up the day job, is not good enough, so the challenge is to get the word out without that part of the endeavor taking over your life.
The cover of the new catalogue, for those of you in the know with metal work you'll realize that this is a grinding disc which you put on a grinder to clean metal after it's been welded. It is a fundamental part of my everyday existence in the studio. For those of you not in the know you can now escape from the questions in your head of "Why does he have a CD/DVD on the cover of his catalogue?", "What on earth do disc brakes have to do with sculpture?". Mystery solved, it's a grinding disc.
Various pages of the new catalogue
Uber Israeli design goddess Ifat Zvirin, without whose generosity and patience this book would not exist.
As of maybe 6 or 7 years ago I began to realize the increasing amount of time that organization and production work were taking out of my everyday schedule. Emails and info to galleries, festivals, the occasional blind aunt, interested buyers, and basically anybody that would listen. Also designing things, some people might think that designers and artists are one in the same or at least reasonably similar, I tend to disagree as it seems that I would have a difficult time designing my way out of a wet paper bag. Designing publicity and or a web page for example on anything other than a very basic level for me would probably be a mistake as people tend to take this image of you, rightly or wrongly, as a representation/reflection of your level of professionalism or quality. So you gotta be a bit careful. Also once you have something attractive how do you get it out there? Well I'll be the first to admit that artists today have it ten million times easier than say even 15 years ago because of the advent of the internet. I hung my web page and eventually it got picked up by internet bots that do us the service of organizing the web a bit for us. the following are a couple examples.
The list goes on especially if you like to spend hours in front of the computer. Will you ever sell something through these pages? I'm sure it's happened, I on the other hand I have not but I do get alot of people to my sight through them.
I also have a free service called Statcounter that is pretty efficient at keeping me up to date on who is visiting my site and when, what you do with the info is up to you. I'm pretty much limited to marvelling at the fact that someone from Fiji viewed my site yesterday at 5:48 PM. It's still a pretty cool site.
My favorite form of press has to be magazine spreads though, guaranteed circulation, you can put in weblinks and contact info and people can view it at there leisure.
Trendy Culture mags will do if your not ready for Artforum or if they're not interested. Usually comes with a small interview and some photos.
Design Mags are also great because alot of designers and architects, at least in my mind, use them as source material.
Also I hate to say it but normally the glossier the better, I think there must be a mathematical equation somewhere that explains the relationship between gloss in magazines and the tax bracket of their readership.
Now maybe one day you arrive at the wonderful and priviledged stage of having some agent or gallerist to take care of all these woeful duties for you but until that day it's good to get as used to as possible the ever increasing role that getting the message out will play in the life of the emerging artist. Whether that means getting your head around photoshop and freehand or just becoming the consummate press whore the reality is that (and this is nothing new) increasingly the art world is becoming commercialized and to compete in the absence of subsidies or blinding success the media can be very helpful.
Time Out Barcelona, May 2008
May 2008
November 2009 issue of Mango Magazine published in the Phillipines
The idea of icons is one that particularly interests me. For a long time I wanted to work with the Statue of Liberty because it's such a provacative image, meaning there is for a lot of people a very large gap in what it supposedly represents and and the evolving nature of America in the eyes of the world. “The Last Supper” is a contemporary take on the age old Christian iconic image of the last supper of Jesus-Christ involving the controversial icon of the Statue of Liberty. This version though takes more of it’s inspiration from Buñuel’s 1961 film “Viridiana”. The dinner in this case joins an unlikely cast of characters invited primarily for their roles in the erosion of civil liberties, whether it be through outright political or military demagoguery, or cultural, or economic imperialism. The five people involved in the project will be filmed as the twelve guests and shown gorging on what is already the body in repose of Miss Liberty. This installation is a reflection of the precarious state of post-September 11 civil liberties and how world wide events have created an environment where increasingly conservative governments place more restrictions on their civilian populations.
To See A delightful Video of the project made by Fabrice Amzel go to this Link:
Work created in collaboration with Thomas Charveriat Sound Design by Denis Menard Costume Design by Eric Obino Video Realization and Edition by Fabrice Amzel
CCCB (Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona), "Los Miedos", BAC IV - 12/2003
Ok F2T is probably the most ambitious artistic project I've ever been involved in. What started out as a "What if..." conversation, you know the ones, they begin "What if we could go to the moon?", "What if we could rebuild the Eiffel Tower with toilet paper rolls?", you know the ones. F2T is the answer to the question "What if we could build an interactive hip hop installation that worked with your mobile telephone?"
F2T
In January 2003, Forrester Consultants, calculated that about 25 billion SMS messages were sent around the world in 2002. New technologies impose their language. Now, a flood of letters and signs, a hieroglyphic argot at the middle of the road between telegram and stenography dominates the virtual world. The “ :`-( “ (“I am crying and I am sad” ), “atb” (“All the best”), “cu @” (“see you around”), “thx” (“Thanks”) arrive with power. F2T, a creation by artists Thomas Charveriat(France) and Frank Plant(United States), combines sculpture, robotics, hip hop, and SMS messaging to explore the ways technology shapes the development of language, particularly new forms of slang. Viewers interact directly with the artwork by sending it a short text message from their mobile. Once received, the SMS is scanned for frequently used words and, when a match is found, the four elements are activated. The main piece, "Rapper" begins to twist and wave his hand while mouthing a rap based on the message sent, the new lyrics culled from more than 150 different hip hop phrases written by Amsterdam-based lyricist and composer Jim Barnard. The rest of the piece is simultaneously set into motion: "Boom Box" starts flashing and blasting out the song while "Joy Ride" a bouncing low-rider, and "Shake Ass" (looks like it sounds) begins to move, triggered by ambient sound sensors. When the song is finished, a thermal printer spits out a souvenir with the original SMS and the words of the "Rapper".
Well that's it in a nutshell but if your interested in the story behind the story hang around, if you would like to go directly to a video created by Fabrice Amzel about F2T? click the below link.
At first F2T? existed solely as a central figure that we figured we would hook up to a portable stereo or soundsystem. We started out fooling around and I took or had taken rather a couple images of me in full on MC mode. The image to the far left served to banish any doubts anyone had about my childhood in the ghetto. These other images though thank god never made it out of the box and now I just use them to blackmail their subjects.
DJ Whitebread AKA Dennis Menard, the sound designer, for F2T
Thomas "Tommy Gun" Charveriat, reigning technophile and co-author of the project. This guy just oozes hood...
The principal image of the rapper/MC initially was just a trial but somehow it stuck, minus my face that is which we replaced with the first rapper/vocalist that we enlisted to record the database of hip hop phrases that we used in the project.Yes we did tend to focus on the bling side of things which doesn't necessarily mean we were tipping our hat to that part of the community, it just boils down to the fact I fuckin' love the song and video "Country Grammar" sung by Nelly and directed by Marc Klasfeld.
Low Rider
Now the idea of F2T came before I saw the video but the video did serve to embellish the project quite a bit. Cars and women figure prominently in the video and my mind started to wander a bit. Thomas and I agreed that perhaps it would be better to add a couple elements, flesh out the project a bit. The first thing that we thought of was to create one of those muscle cars on hydraulic pistons which seemed easy enough. We just had to figure out a way to animate the thing so it jumped up and down.
The solution lay in electro-magnetic pistons which was a new discovery for me but not for Thomas. When an electrical current is applied the magnet creates a force which pulls the piston into the socket. With the late night help of Jan van Ommen, official problem solver and go to guy on this project as well as many others, we developed four springs that we could hook up to an ambient sound sensor (we also hooked up led's in the resin headlights) so that the car would bounce depending on the quantity of ambient sound the sensor received.
Shake Ass
The next element required quite a bit of research on the Internet. Let me tell you what a wonderful tool the internet is, I had to find images of a fairly large ass to make a dynamic piece of sculpture that actually shook her ass in the way that is so popular in rap videos today. There is no shortage of images of all types and sizes of asses on the internet and I spent one of the more pleasant periods of the development of F2T? doing this research. Alas sometimes what your looking for happens to be right under your nose and in this instance it happened to be the case. My lovely girlfriend happened to be willing to compromise herself in the name of art and I came up with this image. Now for a lot of people this derrier would be considered quite remarkable, but sadly this is the type of ass where they laugh you off the set at the video shoot. So what was left for me to do but to savagely attack it in Photoshop and while I was at touch up those thighs a bit as well. The lengths we will go to acheive reality. The results you see below.
The sculpture actually has two asses, one mounted on top of the other. The top one is connected to a motor by a pin that passes through the bottom at more or less the position of the base of the spine. It is also hooked up to an ambient sound sensor and reacts by shaking her ass to the sounds that happen to be in the surrounding area. The sensitivity can also be regulated, just like in real life!
F2T, The Music
Whilst we are busy in Barcelona developing the project up in cold Amsterdam Jim Barnard, our recruit to take care of the heavy heavy job of composing and writing rap phrases that correspond to the words that we have in our database is hard at work. Our database consists of the 150 most popular words used in sms's. This it turns out is a shitload of work, much, much, more than any one anticipated... Later these will be loaded onto a chip that through techno wizardry ala' Thomas Charveriat will be triggered by incoming sms's.
Our man in the 'dam, Strawberry Ize AKA Jim Barnard, One bad Mudda
Jim is busy at it, with a list in alphabetical order that looks something like this, here you have an excerpt from the r's and s's that he wrote:
Read - Catch my flow, bro, if you need to understand it, helps to read, this how I planned it.
Real - Fuck keepin' it real, my deal is to fake it, make it up, I'll give it you take it.
Record - Put the needle on the record, come on over get nekid, grab a pill and fuckin' neck it.
Room - Take
Safe - It's safe to see me, it ain't safe to be me, my style is to rock for you, to short sharp shock for you.
Sea - Nice an' slow coastin', fry roastin', try toastin' like a raggamuffin, chuffin' on a sticky stink ting.
In the end due to time pressures we start to do some of the recording in Barcelona with a fella named Tairo Nimaga that you see here in the studio at Placeta Montcada 5. In the end I think we used maybe five different vocalists with both Jim and Dennis pitching in hours upon hours of fine tuning to make sure we were up to spice.
Other Things.....
One of the cooler things that we did with this project that Thomas came up with all on his own was to put a thermal printer into a tube of pvc and program it to spit out a receipt that gave the number of the person that sent the message, the message they sent, the reply given and artists credits. This was a great foresight and a really important part of the piece. The public would send their messages but the raps would go by so quickly that in the absence of the printer they would have no way of ascertaining which reponse was directed at them and what the hell they were saying anyway. In any event it was also a great souvenir for our adoring public.
We also had a small light box with more or less instructions on how the project worked and of course the number that you had to send the sms to, as well as artists credits. We discovered you can never give yourself enough credit.
Last but certainly not least is the bangin' boom box with a car stereo, a 150 watt amplifier and four car speakers installed in it that we used to broadcast the whole proceedings. Also installed are LED's beneath the "buttons" that are filled with resin. These are also hooked up to an ambient sound sensor and blink according to the volume and frequencies that they receive.
F2T? inaugurated in the CCCB (Centro de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona) for the first time in November of 2003 and has since been exhibited in Observatori 2004, Museo de las Ciencias PrÃncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain, Customize04, Covento de Sant Agusti, Barcelona, Spain and the Ram Foundation, Rotterdam, Den Hague
"The Chilies", Steel bar and plate, 98x97cm, 2006 (First three images), no not a Red Hot Chilly Peppers cover band but what started off as a simple purchase at the local Asian food importers and put through the filter of my brain. I was attracted to this image because as you'll see in a lot of my work I like to work with compositions that a certain amount of repetition as well as chaos, I think the technical word for it is entropy, or structured chaos. 
I was first attracted to these images from the then experimental architect Daniel Liebeskind who did a series of drawings called "Macromegas" that were published in a poncey art journal I once saw. Although there is not a lot of repetition in these works I was very interested in their dynamism and volatility. 
This amount of visual information, detail and a splash of chaos is sometimes what I look for in subjects that I like to portray, the difference is that I normally like to find the information in nature whether it be or man made environments as you see in the favela series that I do or in the Fingerprint series etc....
The Chillies in their new home in Amsterdam
Above you have a detail of one of Liebeskind's "Macromegas" this one titled " Vertical Horizons", I changed the orientation for presentation's sake. Below you have a drawing I did of a favela from a detail of a photo I tracked down on the Internet. and the following the original material.
In the studio, Favela III, Mixed Media, 100x80, 2006
Favela III, Mixed Media, 100x80, 2006 (Details)
Favela II, Engraved Stainless Steel, 100x80, 2006
